Local doctor charged with DWI, child abuse

Published: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.

A local family practice physician has been charged with putting her own child in danger after police responding to a 911 call at her home found her driving away impaired with her 3-year-old.

Deputies responding to 80 Green Ridge Drive in Mills River over Memorial Day weekend noticed a car driving erratically, said Maj. Frank Stout of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies said the vehicle ran off of the road into a mailbox and continued on to North Rugby Road, where the car was stopped.

The driver was identified as Emily Rogers Sawyer, a general practitioner in Brevard whose address matched the home to which officers were responding.

Deputies smelled alcohol during the stop and noticed Sawyer's child in the car.

A test revealed that Sawyer, 37, had a blood alcohol content of .13, over the legal limit of .08.

Stout said the N.C. Highway Patrol charged Sawyer with driving while impaired. The Sheriff's Office charged her with misdemeanor child abuse for “driving while impaired with the child in the vehicle,” according to a magistrate's order.

Sawyer was arrested May 25 and also charged with simple assault after her husband, Jerry Sawyer, filed a complaint with a magistrate stating that she hit him in the face with her fist and verbally threatened him.

Sawyer surrendered her driver's license for at least 10 days in June. She is set to appear again in Henderson County District Court on Aug. 26.

<p>A local family practice physician has been charged with putting her own child in danger after police responding to a 911 call at her home found her driving away impaired with her 3-year-old. </p><p>Deputies responding to 80 Green Ridge Drive in Mills River over Memorial Day weekend noticed a car driving erratically, said Maj. Frank Stout of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office.</p><p>Deputies said the vehicle ran off of the road into a mailbox and continued on to North Rugby Road, where the car was stopped.</p><p>The driver was identified as Emily Rogers Sawyer, a general practitioner in Brevard whose address matched the home to which officers were responding. </p><p>Deputies smelled alcohol during the stop and noticed Sawyer's child in the car. </p><p>A test revealed that Sawyer, 37, had a blood alcohol content of .13, over the legal limit of .08.</p><p>Stout said the N.C. Highway Patrol charged Sawyer with driving while impaired. The Sheriff's Office charged her with misdemeanor child abuse for “driving while impaired with the child in the vehicle,” according to a magistrate's order.</p><p>Sawyer was arrested May 25 and also charged with simple assault after her husband, Jerry Sawyer, filed a complaint with a magistrate stating that she hit him in the face with her fist and verbally threatened him.</p><p>Sawyer surrendered her driver's license for at least 10 days in June. She is set to appear again in Henderson County District Court on Aug. 26.</p><p>Sawyer declined to comment on the case.</p><p>Reach Weaver at emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.</p>